


Whirlwind

by ActualRealLiveFiveYearOld



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: College!Arin, College!Dan, M/M, collegeAU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 15:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7273630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActualRealLiveFiveYearOld/pseuds/ActualRealLiveFiveYearOld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What do you mean there's a tornado warning?!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whirlwind

Dan's phone buzzed in his pocket, letting out a small chirp. He pulled it out as he stood in the quad. He had to hand out all of his fliers before it started raining again. The weather had been dangerous all day, but he was just holding out hope that it wouldn't hail.  
The screen lit up against his background, and it read:  
_Tornado Warning In Your Area_  
 _Severe Thunderstorm Watch_  
 _Flash Flood Warning_  
His phone had been going off for an hour without him knowing.   
"Shit, tornado warning?!"  
He caught the attention of the nearby student who was doing the same job.  
"What do you mean, tornado warning?"  
Dan held up his phone, and the kid stared at it.  
"We gotta get inside."  
They heard a low whining noise in the distance. The student next to him, that he now recognized as Arin from his Physics class, began to breathe heavily.  
"Hey, man. It's alright. We just have to get inside. Nothing's gonna happen to you."  
He nodded, but his chest continued to heave. The wind whipped around them as they ran towards the building. To their dismay, the door leading inside was locked.   
"What're we gonna do?!" Arin tugged the door handle.  
"We don't have time to wait for them to open it. I can get into my dorm room. It has an outside entrance. We need to go." He explained it to Arin clearly, attempting to quickly get his cooperation.  
"Arin, look at me." He tugged his chin upward to stare at him, eyes wide and searching.  
"You have to trust me. Do you understand?"  
The younger student nodded and swallowed loudly. Dan nodded back and tugged him forward to run. His heart hammered against his ribs, but he had a duty to get the freshman to safety. It had begun to rain, and it felt like needles piercing any exposed skin. They crossed the campus greens and Dan pulled Arin and made a sharp left, colliding with a door as the tornado sirens got louder.  Dan whipped out his keys and frantically shoved it into the deadbolt. The door slammed open with the force of the wind, and rain was blown into the dark room. They dashed into the dorm, struggling to shut the door against the howling wind. Dan turned the deadbolt again, locking the door.   
"Oh my god, dude." Arin got onto the bed and folded his knees to his chest, breathing way too hard.   
"Yo, calm down. It's gonna be fine, we're not gonna die."  
Dan slid down the door, trying to calm his own heartbeat. He sat with his knees bent, elbows resting lazily on them to feign some kind of tranquility. The sirens continued, and Dan heard tree branches scrape and slam into the door. It was getting worse. Hail had begun to pelt the door as well, tapping out its own tune.   
The room was quiet except for those sounds, and Dan could see the fear rising in the kid's eyes.   
"So," he broke the quiet. "What club are you in?"  
"Fucking Green Club, man." Arin looked at the soaked fliers that he had, surprisingly, not dropped.  
"Clearly you didn't pass them out quick enough. Mother Nature is _pissed_."  
Arin gave a small smile at that. It fell suddenly when a rather large tree branch cracked against the door.  
"Hey, hey, look at me. Everything's gonna be fine, alright?" Dan shifted to catch his eyes, which were focused in a scared glance at the floor. Dan smiled at him, like he was trying to feed a wild animal.  
"Tell me about your passions, kid."   
"What?"  
"What do you wanna be when you grow up?" Dan mimicked a kindergarten teacher, and Arin perked up a bit.  
"I like to draw. I want to do animation."  
"Animation? That's cool. Like Disney shit?"  
"Yeah. But something a bit more adult."  
"That's awesome."  
Thunder rolled behind the door and Arin flinched.   
"Hey. Keep looking at me." He snapped to get his attention, feeling like an asshole.  
"Tell me about your friends here. Is everything going well? It's your first year, right?"  
"Mhm," he nodded.   
Dan got a text notification on his phone. He looked down at it once more, swiping past the severe weather warnings.  
' _Hey, where are you?! There's a tornado right the fuck outside!'_ Ross was texting him. 

_'Dan, I hope wherever you are, you're hunkered down. It's a madhouse out there_.'  Barry was worried about him as well. They must have run inside before they got locked out, as they had been on flier duty with him.

' _I'm in my dorm with a freshman. Pretty shaken up, but we'll survive_.' He put them in a group chat to update them.   
_'Dan, it's right above the dorms. I can see it now. GET THE FUCK DOWN_.'  
Dan shot his head up to look at Arin, who hadn't been updated.   
"Arin, we need to get down. Get into the bathroom." He pointed to the connecting bathroom as he collected pillows and his phone charger. Arin was frozen to the bed, hands in a claw shape in the duvet.  
"Arin, _now!_ " Dan grabbed Arin's arm, practically dragging the kid off of the bed. He stumbled after him, and stared wide eyed when he was backed into the counter. Dan's face was inches from his, and the door slammed after him. He smelled like leather and rain, and Arin was almost disappointed when he backed away.   
"Sorry, dude. I got a text that said it's right above us."  
Arin knew that that should have sent him into a panic, but it was masked by whatever he felt when he watched Dan run his hand through his tangled hair.   
"No, it's fine..." Arin was screaming at himself to get it together.   
Dan threw a couple pillows into the bathtub and sat down into it. He held out his hand for Arin, and he he gladly took it, sitting next to him.   
"You alright?" Dan turned, and Arin had leaned incredibly close. He nodded.  
"You're cute when you're scared shitless." Dan joked and bopped Arin on the nose.  
Arin's heart went into overdrive.  
"Me? Nah, that was just some fantastic method acting." Arin brushed it off, throwing the conversation to the senior.  
"Well, I was scared, at least." Dan looked ahead, staring at the sink. He looked even better in profile, Arin noticed.  
"Cmon, the big strong knight scared of some wind?" Arin bumped his shoulder, and Dan rested his head in his hands.   
"Oh dude, I straight up thought we were going to die."  
"Then why did you tell me we wouldn't?!"   
"Would you have gone with me?"  
No, he wouldn't have. Dan grabbed him when he was rooted to his spot in the quad.   
"Does that mean you saved my life?"  
Arin giggled nervously.  
Dan looked up at him incredulously.   
"Yeah, I think so. Ha, that means you're forever indebted to me!" Dan ruffled his hair, spreading the blond streak through the rest of the auburn hair.   
"Don't touch the hair, man!" Arin batted his hand away lightly.   
"Sorry, sorry. You wanna touch mine for revenge? It's kinda gross though."  
Arin jumped at the opportunity and stuck his hand in Dan's absolute mane of hair.   
"Ew, it is gross," Arin lied, further carding his hands through the afro.  
"Then why are you still playing with it?"  
"It's soft. Am I bothering you?"  
"Nah, it feels nice."  
"You're acting like a cat."  
"You're a cat. A big cat."  
"You're an idiot." Arin switched to twisting the hair around his fingers.  
"Whatever you say, Big Cat." Dan closed his eyes.   
Arin snorted and started to pull his hand out of Dan's hair, deciding to yank some of it as a joke.   
Dan's eyes opened quickly as he grabbed Arin's hand and tugged it away from his head. He didn't look mad, just surprised.   
"Alright Big Cat, that's enough of that."  
Dan grinned at him and relaxed against the wall behind them.

It was an hour of talking later that Arin smiled and pulled his phone out of his pocket, selecting a game to play and pass the time. Dan did the same, but his phone buzzed while he watched over Arin's shoulder.   
It was Ross.  
' _Oo, a freshman!! How cute is she?_ '  
Dan glanced over from his phone to Arin's face. His tongue stuck out a bit as he concentrated, eyebrows furrowed and an unnecessarily intense glint in his eye.  
Dan focused back to his phone, and reread the text before answering.  
' _Oh, a ten. Definitely a ten_.'

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review if you liked it.


End file.
